Using management theory to support your recommendations
Cyrusxx
Leadershipslidedeck.pptxLeadership – 3 models to consider
Week 6 – Management in Practice
Dr Carol Bond (Melbourne)
RMIT Classification: Trusted
Instructions
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Trait Approach: one of the first systematic attempts to study leadership
“Great Man” Theories (early 1900s)
Focused on identifying innate qualities and characteristics possessed by great social, political, & military leaders.
Great Person Theories
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Trait: “a variety of individual attributes, including aspects of personality, temperament, needs, motives, and values.”
Personality traits: “are relatively stable dispositions to behave in a particular way; e.g. self-confidence and emotional maturity” (p. 43)
Yukl, G. (2010). Leadership in organizations (7th Ed.), Pearson
RMIT Classification: Trusted
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Historical Shifts in Trait Perspective
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Trait approach
Leadership situation
Visionary & charismatic leadership
Early 20th century
Mid-20th century
Late 20th century
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Historical Shifts in Trait Perspective
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Major Leadership Traits
Traits to possess or cultivate if one seeks to be perceived by others as a leader:
Intelligence – Verbal, perceptual, and reasoning capabilities
Self-Confidence – Certainty about one’s competencies and skills
Determination – Desire to get the job done (i.e., initiative, persistence, drive)
Integrity – The quality of honesty and trustworthiness
Sociability – Leader’s inclination to seek out pleasant social relationships.
High energy
Flexibility
Stability
Sensitivity to others
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5-Factor Personality Model & Leadership
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You may visit http://ipip.ori.org to complete a Big Five Personality assessment.
Leadership
Extraversion
Extraversion: Surgency
Neuroticism: Adjustment
Emotionally stable (low n)
Openness:
To experience
(getting along with people; only weakly related to leadership)
Emotionally unstable (high n)
(includes traits related to achievement)
Responsible/
dependable
Irresponsible/
undependable
Conscientiousness:
Agreeableness:
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General and Task-related personality Traits
General personality traits
Task-related personality traits
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Dubrin, A.J. & Dalglish, C. (2003). Leadership: An Australasian Focus. Milton, Qld: John Wiley & Sons
Trustworthiness
Extroversion
Assertiveness
Emotional Stability
Enthusiasm
Sense of humour
Warmth
High tolerance of frustration
Self-confidence
RMIT Classification: Trusted
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General and Task-related personality Traits
General personality traits
Task-related personality traits
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Dubrin, A.J. & Dalglish, C. (2003). Leadership: An Australasian Focus. Milton, Qld: John Wiley & Sons
Passion
Courage
Locus of control
Flexibility and adaptability
Emotional Intelligence
Self-awareness
Self-regulation
Motivation (joy of task and resiliency)
Empathy
Social skill
RMIT Classification: Trusted
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Strengths of this model
Intuitively appealing
Perception that leaders are different in that they possess special traits
People “need” to view leaders as gifted
Credibility due to a century of research support
Highlights leadership component in the leadership process
Focuses exclusively on leader
Deeper level understanding of how leader/personality is related to leadership process
Provides benchmarks for what to look for in a leader
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Criticisms of this model
Fails to delimit a definitive list of leadership traits
Endless lists have emerged
The approach has failed to take situations into account.
Leaders in one situation may not be leaders in another situation
List of most important leadership traits is highly subjective
Much subjective experience & observations serve as basis for identified leadership traits
The trait approach is weak in describing how leaders' traits affect the outcomes of groups and teams in organizations (e.g. productivity and employee satisfaction).
Not useful for training & development
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Skills approach to Leadership
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Trait Approach
- Emphasis on characteristics
- Innate & largely fixed
Skills Approach
- Emphasis on skills and abilities that can be learned and developed
Definition
Leadership skills-The ability to use one’s knowledge and competencies to accomplish a set of goals and objectives
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Comparing the two theories
Skills Approach Description
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| Traits | Skills |
| Adaptable to situations Alert to social environment Ambitious and achievement-orientated Assertive Cooperative Decisive Dependable Dominant (desire to influence others) Energetic (high activity level) Persistent Self-confident Tolerant of stress Willing to assume responsibility | Clever (intelligent) Conceptually skilled Creative Diplomatic and tactful Fluent in speaking Knowledgeable about group task Organised (administrative ability) Persuasive Socially skilled |
Source: Stogdill, R. M. (1974). Handbook of leadership: A survey of the literature. New York: Free Press
reviewed 163 trait studies conducted from 1949 to 1970
RMIT Classification: Trusted
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Three-Skill Approach (Katz, 1955)
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Technical Skill
Human Skill (interpersonal skill)
Conceptual Skill
Leaders need all three skills— but relative importance changes based on level of management
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Three-Skill Approach (Katz, 1955)
1. Technical Skills:
Having knowledge about and being proficient in a specific type of work or activity.
Specialized competencies
Analytical ability
Use of appropriate tools and techniques
Technical skills involve hands-on ability with a product or process
Most important at lower levels of management
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Three-Skill Approach (Katz, 1955)
2. Human Skill:
Having knowledge about and being able to work with people.
Being aware of one’s own perspective and others’ perspectives at the same time
Assisting group members in working cooperatively to achieve common goals
Creating an atmosphere of trust and empowerment of members
Important at all levels of the organization
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Three-Skill Approach (Katz, 1955)
3. Conceptual Skill:
The ability to see the organization as a whole.
The ability to do the mental work of shaping meaning of organizational policy or issues (what company stands for and where it’s going)
Works easily with abstraction and hypothetical notions
Central to creating and articulating a vision and strategic plan for an organization
Most important at top management levels
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Focus is primarily descriptive – it describes leadership from skills perspective
Provides structure for understanding the nature of effective leadership
Principal Research Perspectives
Katz (1955) suggests importance of particular leadership skills varies depending where leaders reside in management hierarchy
Mumford, Campion, & Morgeson, (2007) suggest higher levels of all skills needed at higher levels of hierarchy
Mumford, Zaccaro, Harding et al. (2000) suggest leadership outcomes are direct result of leader’s skilled competency in problem solving, social judgment, & knowledge
RMIT Classification: Trusted
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Strengths of the Skills Approach
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First approach to conceptualize and create a structure of the process of leadership around skills
Describing leadership in terms of skills makes leadership available to everyone
Provides an expansive view of leadership that incorporates wide variety of components (i.e., problem-solving skills, social judgment skills)
Provides a structure consistent with leadership education programs
RMIT Classification: Trusted
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Criticisms of the Skills Approach
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Breadth of the skills approach appears to extend beyond the boundaries of leadership, making it more general, less precise
Weak in predictive value; does not explain how skills lead to effective leadership performance
Not claimed to be a trait model: Skills model includes individual attributes that are trait-like
May not be generalizable
RMIT Classification: Trusted
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Applying the Skills Approach
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The Skills Approach provides a way to delineate the skills of a leader
It is applicable to leaders at all levels within the organization
The skills inventory can provide insights into the individual’s leadership competencies
Test scores allow leaders to learn about areas in which they may wish to seek further training
RMIT Classification: Trusted
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Model of Transformational Leadership (Bass, 1985)
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Transactional
Based on transaction between leader and follower in a way that individualized needs of partners are provided.
e.g. Profit or efficiency or speed in exchange for money, freedom, flexibility
bilateral relationship between leader and followers is traded
Can be reward (when labour supply is low) or penalty (when labour supply is high)
Contingent: based on consent of followers
Alternative is management by exception (active-passive)
Active MBE supervise by continually identifying deviations + errors
Passive MBE wait for mistakes and penalize under-performance
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4 “I”s of Transformational Leadership
Factor 1: Idealized Influence
Acting as strong role models
High standards of moral and ethical conduct
Making others want to follow the leader’s vision
Factor 2: Inspirational Motivation
Communicating high expectations
Inspiring followers to commitment and engagement in shared vision
Using symbols & emotional appeals to focus group members to achieve more than self-interest
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4 “I”s of Transformational Leadership
Factor 3: Intellectual Stimulation
Stimulating followers to be creative and innovative
Challenging their own beliefs and valuing those of leader and organization
Supporting followers to try new approaches
Develop innovative ways of dealing with organization issues
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RMIT Classification: Trusted
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4 “I”s of Transformational Leadership
Factor 4: Individualized Consideration
Listening carefully to the needs of followers
Acting as coaches to assist followers in becoming fully actualized
Helping followers grow through personal challenges
Ex. Showing optimism helps employees become more engaged in their work (Tims et al., 2011)
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Four Leader Strategies in Transforming Organizations (Bennis & Nanus, 1985)
Four common strategies used by leaders in transforming organizations:
Clear vision of organization’s future state
TL’s social architect of organization
Create trust by making their position known and standing by it
Creatively deploy themselves through positive self-regard
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RMIT Classification: Trusted
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Strengths of Transformational Leadership
Broadly researched. TL has been widely researched, including a large body of qualitative research centring on prominent leaders and CEOs in major firms.
Intuitive appeal. People are attracted to TL because it makes sense to them.
Process focused. TL treats leadership as a process occurring between followers and leaders.
Expansive leadership view. TL provides a broader view of leadership that augments other leadership models.
Emphasizes followers. TL emphasizes followers’ needs, values, and morals.
Effectiveness. Evidence supports that TL is an effective form of leadership.
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Criticisms of Transformational Approach
Lacks conceptual clarity
Dimensions are not clearly delimited
Parameters of TL overlap with similar conceptualizations of leadership
Measurement questioned
Validity of MLQ not fully established
Some transformational factors are not unique solely to the transformational model
TL treats leadership more as a personality trait or predisposition than a behaviour that can be taught
No causal link shown between transformational leaders and changes in followers or organizations
TL is elitist and antidemocratic
Suffers from heroic leadership bias
Has the potential to be abused
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Applications of Transformational Approach
Provides a general way of thinking about leadership that stresses ideals, inspiration, innovations, and individual concerns
Can be taught to individuals at all levels of the organization
Able to positively impact a firm’s performance
May be used as a tool in recruitment, selection, promotion, and training development
Can be used to improve team development, decision-making groups, quality initiatives, and reorganizations
The MLQ and Sosik and Jung (2010) guide help leaders to target areas of leadership improvement
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